PAW Exclusive Interview of Lucan Toh
By Brandon Berndt
Director of Operations
www.PokerAffiliateWorld.com
March 30th, 2006
This interview was written by Brandon Berndt from www.PokerAffiliateWorld.com and may only be republished with permission from the author and owners of this website.
On March 30th, I spoke with CEO of PokerShare.com Lucan Toh. PokerShare.com is posed for a comeback, and here at www.PokerAffiliateWorld.com, we couldn't think of anything better then to sit down with Lucan and get his thoughts on everything. I split the questions into three sections; PokerShare.com, Affiliates, and Poker in general. I would like to thank Lucan for taking the time to answers these questions.
PokerShare.com
Can you briefly recap the issues with Excapsa?
I’m not able to talk in detail about the events that occurred between Excapsa, Game Theory Limited and ourselves, however, I would like to say that Excapsa were our first network partner and they gave us the opportunity to test drive our unique concept.
The success of this concept led to a number of operational issues and, in short, our goals were not compatible. We’ve now reached an amicable resolution with Excapsa and Game Theory Limited and have found a great new partner in TAIN, Europe’s largest poker network. I believe that Tain is more aligned with our ambitions and I’m looking forward to developing our relationship over the coming months and years.
PokerShare is back on track and set to release, what can we expect to see from this revolutionary poker room?
Simply put, you can expect great value. We’ve been working hard for the past 4 months to deliver a new product that really rewards our players. There are some great promotions lined up and I’m sure our players will appreciate the new and improved Poker Share Trust Loyalty Store.
On top of all this, we’ll be diversifying our brand and offering casino and betting products to our players, look out for CasinoShare.com in May 2006.
Where would you like to see PokerShare in 5 years?
I’d like to believe that PokerShare.com is a catalyst for change in the industry. Our concept will revolutionize the way other poker websites reward their players and I’d expect that this will help us achieve a top 10 ranking relatively quickly.
We’ll be launching a number of additional online gaming products over the course of 2006/2007 and in addition to becoming a top 10 poker site I’d expect us to be top 10 in whatever market we enter, whether its casino, sports betting or mobile.
Our players get cash if we float, so this is an important part of our growth plan. I’d expect PokerShare.com to be publicly listed, certainly within 2 years and for our players to enjoy that benefit.
Affiliates
In your opinion, how important are affiliates to PokerShare and the online poker industry?
Affiliates are the most important part of the online poker industry, generating anywhere between 20 – 50% of most poker sites revenue, its a billion dollar business! Affiliates have and will continue to be the most important channel for player acquisition for PokerShare.com.
Being an affiliate is not just about making money, it’s about providing a service. You have to innovate in the affiliate industry and these days its becoming increasingly important for affiliates to build relationships with their players. For PokerShare.com, affiliates are a single point of contact for thousands of players.
What can affiliates expect from PokerShare?
I think our concept makes us an attractive proposition, put simply; players want to play at PokerShare.com, making the job of an affiliate much easier!
Affiliates can expect great value and dedicated support from our affiliate managers, they’ll also get accurate daily tracking of their players and sub affiliates so they know exactly how much too expect at the end of the month. We’re on exciting new software which means no email address conflicts or hidden cookies preventing our affiliate’s players from signing up.
Will affiliates have the same players that they had before the break?
All of our players remain tracked to their affiliates, so each and every hand they play will be attributed to their affiliate. All of the affiliates will remain on the same deal for these players too.
Poker
What is your opinion on the state of online poker?
Online poker is a huge industry that’s still growing. It is a very lucrative business for those who get it right. Those who get it wrong just continue to clutter the market which means in order to break through; you must be clearly defined as a poker site and as a brand.
What do you think about the issues going on in America with the online poker industry?
This is the great unknown and a source of great debate, but I believe that this is an industry that must be regulated and that the US will take their lead from the UK which will begin accepting applications for online gaming licenses in 2007.
Companies like ours demonstrate responsible operating practices and I believe this will make it much easier to regulate.
Oct 02, 2007
